and ideals of society; morosely rejected the flattering advances of society, and from his retreat at Montlouis issued “The New Heloise” (1760), “The Social Contract” (1762), and “Emile” (1762); these lifted him into the widest fame, but precipitated upon him the enmity and persecution of Church (for his Deism) and State; fled to Switzerland, where after his aggressive “Letters from the Mountains,” he wandered about, the victim of his own suspicious, hypochondriacal nature; found for some time a retreat in Staffordshire under the patronage of Hume; returned to France, where his only persecutors were his own morbid hallucinations; died, not without suspicion of suicide, at Ermenonville; his “Confessions” and other autobiographical writings, although unreliable in facts, reflect his strange and wayward personality with wonderful truth; was one of the precursive influences which brought on the revolutionary movement (1712-1778).

ROUSSEAU, PIERRE ETIENNE THEODORE, an eminent French artist, born in Paris; at 19 exhibited in the Salon; slowly won his way to the front as the greatest French landscape painter; in 1848 settled down in Barbizon, in the Forest of Fontainebleau, his favourite sketching ground; his pictures (e. g.  “The Alley of Chestnut Trees,” “Early Summer Morning”) fetch immense prices now (1812-1867).

ROVEREDO (10), an Austrian town in the Tyrol, pleasantly situated on the Leno, in the Laegerthal; is the centre of the Tyrolese silk trade.

ROW, JOHN, a Scottish reformer; graduated LL.D. in Padua; came over from the Catholic Church in 1558, and two years later helped to compile the “First Book of Discipline”; settled as a minister in Perth, and was four times Moderator of the General Assembly (1525-1580).  His son, John Row, was minister of Carnock, near Dunfermline, and author of an authoritative “History of the Kirk of Scotland” (1568-1646).

ROWE, NICHOLAS, dramatist and poet-laureate, born at Barford, Bedfordshire; was trained for the law, but took to literature, and made his mark as a dramatist, “The Fair Penitent,” “Jane Shore,” &c., long maintaining their popularity; translated Lucan’s “Pharsalia,” which won Dr. Johnson’s commendation; edited Shakespeare; became poet-laureate in 1715; held some government posts; was buried at Westminster Abbey (1674-1718).

ROWLANDSON, THOMAS, caricaturist, born in London; studied art in Paris; gambled and lived extravagantly; led a roving life in England and Wales; displayed great versatility and strength in his artistic work, e. g. in “Imitations of Modern Drawings,” illustrations to Sterne’s “Sentimental Journey,” “Munchausen’s Travels,” &c.; ridiculed Napoleon in many cartoons (1756-1827).

ROWLEY REGIS (31), a flourishing town of Staffordshire, 3 m.  SE. of Dudley; has large iron-works, potteries, &c.

ROWTON HEATH, in the vicinity of Chester, scene of a great Parliamentary victory over the forces of Charles I. in September 1645.